A fresh coat of asphalt was laid on the eastern block of Monaro Street in August. Photo: John Lomnicki.
A southern NSW council has agreed to expand a business support program, despite a warning of limited funds.
Queanbeyan’s Monaro Street has been closed since early March, while a temporary closure of the nearby Lowe Street intersection began this week.
Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) has been overseeing a major refresh of the road as businesses report slowing trade and less foot traffic. The project is expected to finish in December.
Councillor Ross Macdonald called on his fellow councillors to expand support to businesses across the CBD, meaning those in adjacent arcades and on Crawford Street.
“The crux of this is noting that there are businesses which have felt the impact equally, yet been ineligible for funding,” he said.
Council documents state that the Shopfront Improvement Program has to date only been open to businesses with frontages facing Monaro Street.
It also capped spending on each business at $2000.
Councillor Morgan Broadbent said supporting nearby businesses would reinforce the work being carried out to revitalise Monaro Street itself.
“We’ve done a lot of work on the main road,” he said.
“It’s not just the look of the main road that matters … It’s the – dare I say – the vibe of the main street.
“This expansion of this program will help us achieve some of that vibe.”
Council’s general manager Rebecca Ryan said Monaro Street businesses that didn’t apply to the program’s earlier rounds were being contacted to see if they wanted to put in an application.
“If they were interested in lodging an expression of interest, and if they did, we would bring a report back to council, which would then reduce the amount of the $12,000 fund remaining.”
But councillor Katrina Willis said the council’s money could be better used.
She said the expansion risked writing “virtually a blank check” to businesses, when they were under pressure from more than the Monaro Street closure.
“You can see the economic reporting from reputable news organisations – this is a problem across the country. … Here we seem to be happy to say, ‘Would you like some money?'”
“And then what? We’re just going to fit the funding allocation to whatever the requests are?”
Her amendment, calling on the council to limit the extra spending to $32,000, lapsed without a seconder.
During the meeting, councillor John Preston flagged that other towns could benefit from a similar program.
“While I do agree that those businesses in Monaro Street do need support because of the particular impact from the upgrade, I note that other locations in the LGA are also in need of support and incentives,” he said.
Mayor Kenrick Winchester pushed back on the suggestion that the money could be better spent.
He said staff had visited Monaro Street recently and saw some facades “starting to stick out” because they hadn’t been repaired.
“We’re literally saying you could potentially have up to $2000, which isn’t a whole stack of money, and we don’t know how many people are going to put their hand up and ask for it.
“We’ve heard there’s potentially $20,000 underspend in the facade program, on top of the $12,000 left over here [in the Shopfront Improvement Program].”
Ultimately, Cr Willis was the only one to vote against the plan.
